Laid Bare

“Sorry, but could you repeat that again, Lord Othren?”

Viviane stood before Lord Henri and Lord Othren, the two of them looking rather uncomfortable as they were questioned by the young noblewoman. With the fief on the cusp of war, an interrogation was the last thing they wanted to make time for.

Due to the nature of the discussion, both lords were accompanied by their knights, and Vera certainly didn’t look happy as she glared daggers at Medrauta while the silver-haired knight simply returned her gaze with a subtle smirk that only served to irritate Vera further.

It had taken about thirty minutes for Baron Dietrich to return to the office with both lords in tow. During that time, Medrauta and Viviane had gone to fetch Sakura and Riku, their visitation being greeted with a relieving surprise. Though barely a day had passed, Sakura’s recovery was already exhibiting exceptional alacrity and she was now capable of walking unassisted.

Sakura leaned back in her seat as she observed Lord Othren’s response, focusing more on the life energy fluctuations occurring within the lord’s body rather than his facial expressions. Though the ability to detect deception through changes within one’s ki circulation was generally accurate, it was by no means infallible. Even palpitations brought on by anxiety as a result of pressure from an interrogation were liable to affect changes in one’s ki flow, forcing Sakura to tread carefully when attempting to identify a lie.

“...I’m not sure what you want me to say, Lady Castellia.” Lord Othren said, attempting to hide his annoyance as best he could. “I told you that all my expenditures were a result of my business and for my personal pleasures. Do you expect me to remember every little transaction I make? I spend dozens, if not hundreds of gold each day just as more keeps flowing back in.”

Viviane nodded, choosing to ignore the man’s heated tone near the end of his speech. Instead of directly responding to the lord, she reached into a bag that she’d set aside earlier, rifling through it to retrieve a ledger. Without so much as a pause, she began flipping through the thick tome, stopping on the exact page that detailed a list of the lord’s transactions just before the day when she and Medrauta had arrived at Dietrich.

“W-Where did you get that!?” Lord Othren asked, nearly knocking his chair over as he stood abruptly and reached a hand toward the ledger Viviane held. Unfortunately for him, he never even got close.

Within a fraction of a second, Medrauta had stepped in front of her lady, grabbing Lord Othren’s hand by the wrist and stopping him in his tracks. She forced a smile on her face as she addressed the overweight man. “Please be seated, my lord.”

“Dame Medrauta, please unhand my lord.” Jasmine, Lord Othren’s knight, said in a rather exhausted tone. It was clear that she was used to her lord acting impulsively, most likely due to Lord Othren’s ability to pretty much pay himself out of any situation.

“Of course, Dame Jasmine. I’ll do so the moment he calms himself.”

“I AM CALM!!!” Lord Othren shouted, his face reddening slightly as a result of his frustration and anger at being stopped. Jasmine sighed in exasperation, placing her hands on her lord’s shoulders as she sat him down firmly once Medrauta released her grip from Lord Othren’s wrist.

Medrauta raised an eyebrow at the lord’s statement, biting back the urge to laugh as she witnessed the clearly agitated man being forced to sit still like an overactive toddler. “Would anyone else want to interrupt?”

Though Lord Othren immediately attempted to raise another complaint, Jasmine reacted even quicker, clamping her hand over her lord’s mouth before he could even get a word in. Medrauta couldn’t help but smile and shake her head at the sight before turning to Viviane. “Looks like things have settled down.”

“Then I’ll continue,” Viviane said as she began listing out Lord Othren’s transactions on the page she’d stopped at. “Earlier, you said that you couldn’t recall the purchases you made that day, but surely you’d remember this five-hundred silver gap at the end of the day?”

Lord Othren peered at the document, squinting as he inspected it. “Gap? What gap? I don’t see any gap at all!”

“I suppose not if you read from the ledger verbatim. ‘Two-hundred-fifty silver for services rendered.’ Twice. I wonder what these two identical payments could mean?”

“N-Nothing! It means nothing!” Lord Othren was clearly flustered, and though he wished for nothing more than to tear the ledger from Viviane’s hands, he was well aware that such an action would simply cause the suspicion already directed toward him to rise.

“Then I’d like for you to specify these services,” Viviane said. “Otherwise you will be placed under arrest on suspicion of betraying the duchy.”

In the rear, Baron Dietrich couldn’t help but allow a sigh of relief to escape his lips. Though the sound was comparable to the quietest of whispers, it failed to escape the keen senses of the knights present in the room. They couldn’t blame him. While the arrest of Lord Othren would certainly be disadvantageous for the coming war, Baron Dietrich would much rather prefer losing him over his trusted advisor.

After all, Lord Othren very rarely participated in things personally, often choosing to delegate his work to his numerous subordinates. In fact, his presence in the fief’s capital was out of courtesy. Had he been able to neglect the baron’s request for him to be present, he would have simply offloaded the complex work of war preparation to Jasmine.

However, his lack of motivation to participate in potentially landscape-changing plots did not make him any less of a shrewd nobleman. Rather, it was because he often took a backseat in such events that he had cultivated a very particular kind of insight unique only to those well-acquainted with the role of a mere observer.

Lord Othren stared at Viviane after the noblewoman made her declaration, appraising her with extreme scrutiny. For some reason, the frustration that had been boiling within him earlier was rapidly dissipating as his instincts slowly took over. He wasn’t entirely sure, but it seemed as though Viviane was attempting to clear his name while appearing to pressure him into a confession.

“...Very well, Lady Castellia.” Lord Othren sighed. “I’ll save you the discourse on this duchy’s tax law, but those payments were made as business expenses for the sake of... tax evasion.” Though the lord was slightly nervous about making such an admission in front of the baron, tax evasion was punished a lot less harshly than betraying the fief. “The ‘services’ in question are nonexistent and were paid to a beneficiary who re-routes the coin back to my treasury.”

Viviane nodded and then turned to Sakura who nodded in response. Upon seeing their exchange, the baron’s mood immediately soured. Though he originally doubted Sakura’s ability to somehow discern lies, he had personally tested her after being briefed by Viviane on the ability’s specifics. The only hope he had now was that Sakura had made an error in her judgment.

“Understood. We will need to interview this beneficiary later today.” Viviane said, satisfied that she had confirmed Lord Othren’s innocence. In truth, she already knew that the lord wasn’t the traitor thanks to his lack of involvement in the war preparations. Though he certainly possessed the resources to pull off what the culprit had done, his complete disinterest in the war outside of his own security and stability had pretty much earned him freedom from the list of possible suspects.

“...Very astute, Lady Castellia.” Lord Henri smiled at Viviane. “I must say, you are quite the tactician. I cannot even begin to imagine what kind of noblewoman you’ll become as you grow older.”

“I’m sorry, Lord Henri. I’m not sure what you mean.” Viviane replied with a neutral smile. Her body tensed as it sensed inevitable confrontation. Now that Lord Othren’s name had essentially been cleared, the only suspect that remained was Lord Henri, and he certainly didn’t look happy about it.

“Oh, please. It would be an insult if I did not compliment you on your spectacular performance, Lady Castellia. You questioned Lord Othren first not only to clear his name, but to prevent me from using his dubious transactions to strengthen my case, didn’t you? A rather shrewd maneuver of yours.”

“...I have not even begun questioning you, Lord Henri. I would appreciate that you not make such bold assumptions.”

Lord Henri laughed and shook his head multiple times. “There is no need to continue this farce, is there? You’ve known from the start.”

“Viviane!” Medrauta’s shout of alarm tore through the air as her blade flew from its scabbard with such speed that the room’s occupants barely even registered the movement. She wasn’t a second too late as the windows were smashed open by a flock of ravens that dove through them, shooting themselves at Viviane as if they were many-feathered arrows.

Medrauta’s sword formed a flurry of whirling steel, cleaving the speeding ravens into ribbons, their bodies splattering across the office’s carpeted floor like diced poultry.

“I am curious though... How did you find out?” Lord Henri asked. Despite seeing Medrauta’s drawn blade and blistering bladework, he seemed unnaturally calm.

“You were sloppy, I suppose.” Viviane shrugged. “We couldn’t find any records of transactions made by you. In essence, we had very little documented proof to go by even after obtaining ledgers of your personal transactions from the baron.”

“I see... Then?”

“It was a pretty smart idea to hide your payment behind the veil of a generous donation from the baron, but you should’ve been more careful with the cost of the goods. A city like Dietrich doesn’t have the population needed to warrant a seven-hundred silver donation, even considering all the food, clothing, and furniture that they received.”

“Ah. So it was that.” Lord Henri shook his head with a smile. “How unfortunate. The one time I try doing something nice, it comes back to bite me in the ass.”

“It was that and the blank seal on the documents you intended to send to Bastiche,” Medrauta cut in. “You never did choose to adopt a coat of arms even after you were granted nobility, huh?”

“As if I would join those fools in their arrogance.” Lord Henri laughed. “I suppose I must congratulate you, Lady Castellia. You’ve caught me. But did you know...? Lord Bastiche and the great witch promised me more than just the ability to see through the eyes of her familiars.”

“Stand back, Viviane!” Medrauta shouted as Lord Henri raised his palm toward Viviane, gathering umbral energy in its center and firing it off as a bolt. The silver-haired knight’s sword flashed through the air, cutting through the bolt of darkness, causing it to dissipate into the air.

“...Why? Why, Henri!? You were like a brother to me! I gave you everything, and yet you turned your back on me in my most trying time!?” Baron Dietrich exclaimed with tears in his eyes.

“...You wouldn’t understand, my lord.” Lord Henri said bitterly.

“I see...” Baron Dietrich grit his teeth. He wanted to ask more. He wanted to talk to his friend and find a compromise. Even now, he didn’t want to accept his friend’s treachery, but as a baron, he knew that his personal emotions came second to the fief’s safety. “...Henri, you’re under arrest for treason against the fief. Knights, arrest him!”

Shiiing!

The gleaming steel of Vera’s sword stopped Medrauta in her tracks. The knight's emerald hair billowed in the wind that intruded from the office’s smashed window as she stood in front of Medrauta, barring her way.

“...Dame Vera. What are you doing?” Medrauta asked. Although she was certain she could defeat the senior knight, she didn’t want to engage another knight in combat inside such a small space while Viviane was present.

“Back off, Dame Medrauta.” Vera spat angrily. “I... I’ll arrest him myself.”